The Juliana Theory

Love (2003)

tom

After what seemed like forever, or just a couple years, The Juliana Theory released its third full length album "Love" (which also happens to be TJT's major label debut). 14 tracks long and just under 60 minutes of darker, more rock oriented music. It is certainly a disc worth picking up. And now for the specifics.

The first track on the cd is titled "Bring it Low" and it is probably one of the harder tracks on the disc. The repeating riff during the chorus i find to be kind of annoying so its not really one of my favorite tracks. "Do you Believe Me" is the next track and alledged single. Very subtle in the start and slowly builds to a climax at the chorus. I really like the backing vocals. The melody is really catchy.

Anyways to refrain from describing every track and wasting everyones time. I'll just highlight a few key details. Piano is used considerably more on this cd when compared with earlier efforts and is often featured in some of the songs. The melodies often aren't standard and take a little bit of getting used to. At first I didn't really think "Love" was much more then standard, however after a bit the complicated melodies really start to sink in and you can fully enjoy each song.

Some stand out tracks include "Shell of a Man" which ends in a pleasant piano outro. Another is "Jewel to Sparkle" which is my favorite track on the disc. I think the chorus is rediculously catchy and its overall just a great song. "White Days" is a fantastic song if you like slower ballads that focus on melody more then riffs. And "In Conversation" probably has the most confusing melodies on the whole album, but after a bit you will really enjoy them, at least I did.

The last track is "Everything" which is the song that gives the album its name. The shout chorus states "Love is everything" over and over. I guess in a sense its true. The song builds to a great climax and then backs away, which kind of gives the song an epic feel to it. Epics are always good if you ask me, then again no one really did ask me.

Overall, "Love" is definitely an album worth getting. It is darker and more rock (less punk or emoish) then "Understand this is a Dream" or "Emotion is Dead."